For no reason other then awesome factor, I want to install a slot-loading optical drive in my new computer.

Now, a lot of searching has proved that slot-loading optical drives don't come in 5.25 inch form factor; they're only for laptops.

So, how would you go about mounting a laptop-size optical drive into a 5.25 inch bay?

My ideas involve making some custom brackets, and then modifying the blanking plug in the case to allow for the different size of the drive. This is a last resort, however, as I would much rather use an off the shelf product if one exists.

This looks ideal, but it's only available in the United States, which is no good for me. I live in the UK, so it would need to be available from an EU supplier.

This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:

"Questions seeking for hardware shopping recommendations are off-topic because they are often relevant only to the question author at the time the question was asked and tend to become obsolete quickly. Instead of asking what to buy, try asking how to find out what suits your needs." – MaQleod, DavidPostill, Matthew Williams, mdpc

4 Answers
4

Some of the (UK) companies that specialise in small form factor systems do slim drive mounting brackets - for example:

Slim CD/DVD + 3.5" HDD Drive Bay - 5.25"

This Bezel Kit solution allows a slimline optical drive and a 3.5" HDD to be installed in 5.25” optical drive bays found on desktops and servers.
Slimline form factor optical drives – CD-ROM, DVD, and Blu-Ray included – are usually designed for laptop and portable computer systems. Because of their form factor, other desktop and server-type users are likely to find useful applications for slim drives in their systems. This unique bezel solution allows you to use a single slim optical drive for 5.25” drive bays.

As you've mentioned that you live in the UK, Maplins sell a 3.5" >< 5.25in bracket set, basically two pieces of "U" shaped metal than can be used to fix a hard disk in the space of a CD/DVD drive slot. I would think that this would work, although I have never mounted a laptop "slimline" drive outside of a laptop, so see if this would be OK.

I have engineered my own wire frame to load up 3 "laptop" optical drives into one 5.25" bay how ever it needs two things
[1] A neat little bezel to cover the two opening left exposed
[2] adapters to convert the interface from slim to standard PATA

I tried the SATA and they worked like a charm so now I'm gonna get my craftsman to make the bezel. The only problem I have now is 3 slim PATA 8x DVD Writers sitting on a shelf with nothing to do :( so I am back to square 1 I still got 3 perfectly working drives sitting on a shelf:(